Lower House of the Swiss Parliament Votes to Link with the EU ETS

On 3 December 2018 the Swiss National Council (the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland) voted in favor of linking the Swiss Emissions Trading System (ETS) with the European Union ETS. The draft bill passed with 118 votes out of 200 members. The bill must now be passed by the Council of States (the upper house).

In addition, the agreement must also be approved by the EU. Currently, the draft agreement is being considered by the European Parliament, which has to approve the decision before it can be adopted by the Council.

Negotiations on the linking agreement were concluded in 2016 and the draft agreement was signed by both the EU and Switzerland on 23 November 2017.

The agreement will enter into force on 1 January of the year following the ratification of the agreement by both parties. Once linked, regulated entities in both the Swiss ETS and EU ETS can use allowances from both markets for compliance.